Mt Silverthorne — Deluge Lake basin (Gore, Class 2+)¶
Other climbers: Emily Sharpe — ✓ climbed · Shawn D Keil — not yet
At a glance — recommended day
16.4 mi · 5,255 ft gain · Class 2+ · 1 peak · ~2.68 h drive
NOAA weather link: Mt Silverthorne Weather
CalTopo research map: https://caltopo.com/m/4DDUVJ0
Researched: 2026-07-27
Status in Peak Checklist: unclimbed. At 13,361' Silverthorne is the highest of the seven remaining unreported Gore 13ers and the 349th-ranked peak in Colorado — a big, broad summit at the head of the Deluge Lake drainage in the Eagles Nest Wilderness. It was formerly listed as "Willow Benchmark"; LiDAR added 4 ft over the old 13,357' map value.
Combination Options: - Standalone day trip, on the evidence. No recorded track links Silverthorne to another unclimbed objective in a single day — all three swept tracks are Silverthorne-only. At 16.4 mi it's a full day by itself. - Same trailhead as Mt Valhalla + Snow Peak. Two reports, one parking lot — so you could knock both out on consecutive days without moving the car, or pick whichever the forecast favors on the drive up. - The backpack version is the one climb13ers recommends. They reach Silverthorne "CLIMBED WITH SNOW PEAK" from a Deluge Lake base camp — 16 mi / 7,075' round trip for the pair from the trailhead, or just 7 mi / 4,025' for both once you're camped at the lake. That camp serves four 13ers (Silverthorne, Snow, Valhalla, Grand Traverse — you already have Grand Traverse). As day trips this is one outing and Valhalla+Snow is another; as a backpack the two reports merge into one trip. - Two different approaches exist — the west/Deluge Lake side used here, and a longer east-side day from the Gore Range Trail. See Other considerations.
Note: the recommended route was distilled from 8 recorded GPS tracks of real trips (14ers.com · ListsofJohn · peakbagger) — all layered on the interactive CalTopo research map.
Peak covered¶
A Class 2+ walk-up-grade summit whose difficulty is entirely distance and vertical, not technique — minimal exposure, no scrambling grade above 2+. What it does ask for is moderate routefinding and a tolerance for mixed ground: tundra, embedded rock, rubble, scree and stacked boulders, on what climb13ers calls a "stiff uphill climb."
| Peak | Elev | Class (route) | RT from TH (climb13ers) | peak_db |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Mt Silverthorne" | 13,361' | 2+ (S Ridge & Couloir) | 16 mi / 7,075' with Snow Pk | 435 |
In the Eagles Nest Wilderness (White River NF), Vail East / Willow Lakes quads, Summit County — no permits or fees, standard wilderness rules. Prominence 1,093' (LiDAR) off a 12,268' saddle. Alternate name Willow Benchmark.
Getting there — Gore Creek / Deluge Lake (East Vail)¶
Drive from Boulder: ~2h 41m via Google Maps (origin: 1162 Peakview Circle) — I-70 W to East Vail (exit 180), then the frontage road / Bighorn Rd east to the Gore Creek / Deluge Lake trailhead at the end of Gore Creek Road. 115 mi.
| Trailhead — Deluge Lake / Gore Creek | ~39.62752,-106.27753, ~8,700'. All paved, any passenger car (climb13ers confirms). Forest Service lot, no fee, at the road's end past the Gore Creek Campground. |
| Trail | Deluge Lake Trail — splits left off the Gore Creek Trail shortly in, then over 4 mi of steep, well-built trail to Deluge Lake (~11,700'). |
| Neighbors from the same TH | Mt Valhalla + Snow Pk (their own report), plus Grand Traverse and North Traverse (already climbed). |
Route — Deluge Lake Trail, then the South Ridge & Couloir (Class 2+)¶
~16.4 mi · ~5,255 ft round trip — the recommended line follows an August 2021 recording verbatim: the cleanest of the three swept tracks (max-gap 0.01 mi), it starts 683 ft from the trailhead, and it's a Silverthorne-only day, which is exactly what this report is:
- Deluge Lake Trail from the trailhead — the same steep 4+ mi grind up the drainage that serves the Valhalla/Snow report, climbing to Deluge Lake (~11,700').
- North out of the basin toward Silverthorne's south side — leave the lake and gain the upper drainage on tundra and embedded rock.
- The South Ridge & Couloir (Class 2+) — the couloir is the reason an ice axe is recommended: into early July it can hold snow. Above it, rubble, scree and stacked boulders to the broad 13,361' summit. Exposure stays minimal throughout; routefinding is the moderate part — pick the line rather than expect a path.
- Reverse the route back over the lake and down the trail.
On the numbers: climb13ers quotes 16 mi / 7,075' from this trailhead, but that figure is for the route "CLIMBED WITH SNOW PEAK" — it includes a second summit. Silverthorne alone measures 16.4 mi / ~5,255 ft, which squares with the terrain: the trailhead sits at 8,700' and the summit at 13,361', so 4,661 ft of it is simply net gain.
Gear & season¶
- Best window: mid-July through September. North-facing Gore basin that holds snow late, and the route finishes up a couloir — climb13ers recommends an ice axe, which is not optional in early season.
- Gear: poles for 8+ mi of steep trail; ice axe early season. No helmet demand and no rope on the standard line — this is Class 2+ throughout.
- This is an endurance day, not a technical one. 16.4 mi and ~5,255 ft with mixed footing for the upper third. climb13ers flags it as best reserved for those with the endurance to finish it.
- Weather strategy: 4+ mi of trail before any exposure, then a long open upper mountain — early start, and be off the summit before the afternoon monsoon builds.
- Cell: East Vail is close but the Deluge basin is walled. Carry an InReach.
Other considerations¶
There's a second, longer approach from the east. One of the three swept tracks (August 2024, 18.5 mi) starts at 39.65158,-106.09790, ~8,990' — about 9.7 mi east of the Deluge trailhead — and reaches the summit from the Gore Range Trail side, which climb13ers mentions as an alternative "long day hike." It's 2 mi longer and from a different drainage, so the west/Deluge approach is the recommendation here; the east track is on the CalTopo map if you ever want it.
The Deluge Lake trail is the toll you pay twice. Over 4 mi and ~3,000 ft of steep trail before any real climbing, in both directions. This is the single strongest argument for the backpack: camp at the lake once and collect Silverthorne, Snow Peak and Valhalla from there instead of walking that approach on two or three separate days.
All three recorded tracks are summer. August 2021, July 2022 and August 2024 — no winter/ski line in the pool to screen out, so the recommended route is genuinely a summer-conditions line.
Highest of the remaining seven. Worth noting for planning order: if you want the biggest of the outstanding Gore peaks done while the season is best, this is it.
Trip reports & GPX (all three sources)¶
Sources confirmed logged in: 14ers.com ("letsgocu"), listsofjohn.com ("letsgocu"), peakbagger.com ("Kyle Knutson"). The peak's libraries were swept across all three sources and deduped — 8 recorded tracks — plus the full OSM trail network (76 mapped ways incl. the Deluge Lake, Gore Creek, Gore Range and Willow Lakes trails), all layered on the CalTopo map.
- 14ers.com: peak page "Mt. Silverthorne" (10220) — 2 GPX-library tracks, including the August 2021 recording the route is built from.
- listsofjohn.com: Silverthorne, Mt (435) — 6 trip reports, 5 with downloadable GPX; cross-links the correct peakbagger pid (33073) and gives the LiDAR elevation.
- peakbagger.com: Mt Silverthorne pid 33073 — 7 logged ascents, 1 with a downloadable GPX track.
- climb13ers.com: Willow BM / Mt. Silverthorne S Ridge & Couloir (Class 2+) — route, class, trailhead and basecamp beta.
Sources checked: 14ers.com ✓ (logged in, "letsgocu") · listsofjohn.com ✓ (logged in, "letsgocu") · peakbagger.com ✓ (logged in, "Kyle Knutson")